P900 Focusing Issue: I posted this down on the Bridge Camera forum, but I don’t think many people check that forum, so I thought I’d post it here to see if anyone has an idea. Recently...

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

I posted this down on the Bridge Camera forum, but I don’t think many people check that forum, so I thought I’d post it here to see if anyone has an idea.

Recently I tried taking photos of the moon on a clear night. No obstructions, it was away from any trees or buildings. The P900 was set to the moon setting. I had the camera braced against a doorway, so there was no perceptible camera movement. Unfortunately all images came out blurred for some reason. When I pressed the shutter button, it would go into focus, then come out of focus. It did this for 4 separate tries and then I gave up. Anyone using the P900 have this issue? I’ve taken moon shots with it before with success. Any explanation or advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Don, the 2nd son Loc: Crowded Florida

This happens to me with other P&S cameras, well I guess all AF cameras when I use spot focus and it aligns with a low contrast portion of the target. By widening the focus area (when I think of it in time) corrected the problem.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Wingpilot wrote:

I posted this down on the Bridge Camera forum, but... (show quote)

I cannot speak to specifically what is happening in your situation but my dad has an array of bridge cameras that he has bought over the years. On all those cameras, the moon icon represents a "night mode," for situations where lighting is limited. That's not appropriate for photographing the moon, which is illuminated by bright, unmodified sunlight. Try again with a standard daylight setting.

a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

It has manual focus ability. Set it for infinity.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Don, the 2nd son wrote:

This happens to me with other P&S cameras, well I guess all AF cameras when I use spot focus and it aligns with a low contrast portion of the target. By widening the focus area (when I think of it in time) corrected the problem.

I will give that a try. Thanks.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

larryepage wrote:

I cannot speak to specifically what is happening in your situation but my dad has an array of bridge cameras that he has bought over the years. On all those cameras, the moon icon represents a "night mode," for situations where lighting is limited. That's not appropriate for photographing the moon, which is illuminated by bright, unmodified sunlight. Try again with a standard daylight setting.

Thanks. I have a list of some settings that are supposed to be good for photographing the moon, so I’ll give that a try, as well.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

a6k wrote:

It has manual focus ability. Set it for infinity.

Supposedly when you set the P900 to “Moon” it automatically sets the focus on infinity. At least that’s what the manual says. I need to try this again and manually focus to infinity and see what happens.

Hasslla

As an aside,I found that a delayed or timed shutter release so helpful to reduce camera shake due to pressing the release.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Hasslla wrote:

As an aside,I found that a delayed or timed shutter release so helpful to reduce camera shake due to pressing the release.

Probably setting the self timer to 3 seconds should accomplish that.

rangel28

Wingpilot wrote:

I posted this down on the Bridge Camera forum, but... (show quote)

I have had issues achieving focus with bridge cameras before, and have found that using a "Spot" focusing mode has helped. That means you would need to take the P900 out of Moon mode. Also make sure your camera is not set to Auto ISO as that will make the moon too bright.

Mr Bill 2011 Loc: southern Indiana

Wingpilot wrote:

I posted this down on the Bridge Camera forum, but... (show quote)

I've had trouble with the autofocus at times, too. It seems like the camera wants to search for focus if there's not much contrast. I've usually just focused on the edge of the moon for a focus point. Work around is to go to manual focus; in manual focus, the exposure compensation button toggles between exposure comp. and Autofocus, using the SET Button to toggle between them. In autofocus mode, pressing the exp.comp. button autofocuses the lens, releasing it locks focus similar to BBF. If you have the Peaking feature [the little "sparkles"] turned on, you can use the ring dial on the outside of the SET button to make any minor focus adjustments you need. Press the SET button again and you are back in exposure compensation mode.

whatdat Loc: Del Valle, Tx.

Have had focusing on & out at long telephoto recently. There has been some good advice above. Will give them a try.